At this point I really want to go and experience it myself. Every single real life person who lives there or close by has said that things are pretty bad when I've asked them about it. Seemingly every article about it says it's pretty bad. The only people saying it's no big deal are anonymous people online claiming to have lived there forever and that it's all just right wing propaganda.
What am I supposed to believe? The videos I've seen of the city and the "flash mobs" (lol) emptying stores make it seem really bad. Should I just wait for the city to put out a tourist friendly "look how great SF is" video and take their word for it?